Rail anchor



April 8, 1930. c. B. SHE'PH-ERD RAIL ANCHOR Filed May 9, 1928 PatentedApr. 8, 1930 I UNITED STATES YP ATENT O CHARLES B.- SHEBHERD, on NEWYORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE P a M, CO PANY, or

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION O'FQILLINOIS RAIL; Anoiron Applicationfiled May 9, 1928. Serial No. 276,207;

' This invention-relates to rail anchors and has for an object toprovide arail anchor which is simple and economical to manufacture andwhen applied in position on a rail base flange it will tenaciously gripand effectively hold the rail base flange from longitudinal creeping.

. A further object'of this invention is to provide a rail anchor havinga jaw-like mem- IObGI' provided with a vertical depending loop. Furtherobjects will. appear from the fol lowing description, appended claimsand the accompanying drawings in. which- Figure l is an lSOlIletIlC-VIBWof the rail anchor constitutingmy invention.

T Figure 2 shows the anchor applied'to a rail base flange, therail beingshown in section. V

Figure 3 illustrates one of the positions assumed by the anchor whenbeing applied to a rail base flange.

' Figure 4 illustrates the relation of parts prior to the application ofthe anchor-(in full-lines) and the relation and distortion ofpartswhenthe anchor has beenapplied (in dotted lines).

-. Referring to the drawings in which there is illustrated onemodification of my invention and in whlch like reference numerals Vdesignate like parts, the reference'numeral 1 designates a body memberor arm which is adapted to extend transversely to and beneath the railbase flange. Disposed at one end is a rail flange-engaging means 21 "The.35 rail flange-engaging means 2 comprisesa vertically depending loopedmember functioning as a tie-abuttingmeans andha-ving nor-- mallyspacedapart legs 3 and 4. If desired, the lower portion of the looped membermay be formed to lie in a' plane other than that occupied by theremaining parts ofvthe an- -chor'. In other words, thelower portion: ofthe looped member may be offset relatively to the body member. ThelegBwhich, 'as is illustrated in the drawing, is of a greater length thanthe leg 4 and, due. to the easy "bend at its lower-extremity, is.adapted' to yieldingly engage the "vertical edge, of the railbaseflangewith its innersurface 5'. The

'. leg .3 terminates: at its. upper end in a subrail base flange. Thesetwojmembers 6 and 'the yielding member 7 lies, whereby the porposition,

the jaw member 2 is pushed on a rail base with a spike maul orsledgewhereby, due to 1 the construction of the anchor, various parts shape orcontour. Iprefer, however, to make itofthe same shape as the rail base"flange which it is intended to engage. I

Disposed beneaththe member 6 and: on the shorter leg 4 is a resilientmember 7 which is adapted to engage the under surfaceof the co 7 arespaced from'each other a distance less I than the thickness of the railbase flange which they are intended to embrace.' 'On the opposite end ofthefbody member 1, there is a rail base flange-engaging means 8 Thisrail flange-engaging means 8 may be of any well-known kind. I prefer,however, to make itin the form of an upstanding lip 9' which is intendedto engage the vertical edge of the rail base flanges In its normal orrest position, the distance between the vertical edge 5 and the lip 9 isless than the width of a standardrail base flange; This structure ingthe yielding member 7 in a plane higher than that occupied by thecentral portion of so the body member 1 and forming a small portion 10of the body member l adjacent the lip 9=to occupy, when theanchoris'free of the rail, a planehigher than that in which 1 tion 10 isforced 'downwardly relative to the member 7' when the anchor is itsapplied To: apply the anchortoa rail base flange,

flangeasfar as it Willeasily go. Atthe end of this operation the anchorassumesthe position illustratedin Figure 3. The vertical leg 3 isithenstruck on its upper surface "11 thereof are distorted. ,The arm or bodymember 1 is elongated, the jawmembers 6 and? are spread apart and theleg-3 moved outwardly as show-n in Figure 4... The elonbody member.

gation of the anchor occasioned by the elongation of the body member 1and the outward movement of the leg 3 permit the lip 9 to clear theopposite edge of the rail base flange and snap into position;

The relation of parts before and after application of the anchor isclearly disclosed in Figure 4. When applied in place, the anchor exertsa powerful transverse pressure by means of the'vertical edge 5 and thelip 9. An upward pressure is exerted by-the resilient jaw member 7 andthe portion 10 adj acent the lip 9. The substantially rigid member orjaw member 6 exerts a downward pressure. It is thus seen that the anchorsecurely and tenaciously holds and grips the rail base flange andprevents longitudinal creeping of the rails.- I

Since it is obvious that modifications may be made without departingfrom the nature of the invention, I do not intend to limit myself totheexact details above described except as set forth in the claims.

I claim e r 1. A rail anchor comprising a body member, a downwardlydepending looped member disposed at one end'thereof, said looped memberhaving legs of unequal length, means adapted to engage the. uppersurface of the rail base flange disposed on the longer leg,

and means disposed onthe shorter leg adapted to engage the under surfaceof said rail base flange at a location spaced inwardly from the edgesurface of said flange and rail base flange-engaging meansdisposed onthe opposite end of said body member.

. 2. A rail anchor comprising a body member, a downwardly'dependinglooped member disposed at one end thereof, said looped member havinglegs of. unequal length, means adapted to engage the upper surface oftherail base flange disposed on the longer leg, and yielding means disposedon the shorter leg adapted to engage the undersurface of said rail baseflange at a location ,spaced inwardly from the adjacent edge of the railbase, and rail base flange-engaging means disposed on the opposite endof said 3. A rail anchor comprising a body member, a vertically disposedlooped member at one end thereof and in the vertical plane of the body,said looped member having a long leg and a short leg, said short legpositioned forward of said long leg, said long leg adapted to bear againthe vertical edge'only of a rail base flange, means'adapted to engagethe upper surface of said rail base flange disposed on one end of saidlong leg, means adapted to engage the under surface of said rail baseflange disposed on said short leg, and rail flange-engagingmeansdisposed on the opposite end of saidbody member.

.4. A- rail anchor comprising abody member, a looped member disposed atone end thereof, said looped member having a long vertical leg and ashort vertical leg, said short leg positioned forward of said long leg,said long leg adapted to engage the vertical edge of a rail base flange,means adapted to engage the upper surface of said rail base flangedisposed on'one end of said long leg, yielding means disposed on saidshort leg adapted to engage the under surface of said rail base flangeat a point spaced inwardly from the edge surface thereof, and railflange-engaging means disposed on the opposite end of said body member.

5. A rail anchor comprising a bowed body member, a looped memberdisposed at one end thereof, said looped member having a long verticalleg and a short vertical leg, saidrshort leg positioned forward of saidlong leg, said long leg being yieldable transversely'of the rail andadapted to engage the vertical edge of a rail base flange, means adaptedto engage the upper surface of said rail base flange disposed on one endof said long leg, means adaptedto engage the under surface of saidmember, a looped member disposed at one end thereof, said looped memberhaving a long vertical leg and a short vertical leg, said short legpositioned forward of said long leg, said long legbeing yieldable andadapted toengage the vertical edge of a rail base flange, means adaptedto engage the upper surface of said rail base flange. disposed. on oneend of said long leg, yielding means on said short leg adapted to engagethe under surface of said rail base flange at a point intermediate theedge of said flange and the inner extremity of said upper bearing means,and rail flange-engaging means disposed on the opposite end ofsaid bodymember;

7. 'A rail anchor comprising an arm portion which extendstransverselybeneath the top surface of the last mentioned flange, and ia vertical loop connecting said top and bottom bearings; the spacebetween said top and bottom bearings'being normally less than thethickness of the base flange engaged,

whereby said loop is strained by movement ofthe anchor to its appliedposition. I

a 8. A rail anchor comprising an arm portion. whichextends transverselybeneath the rail base and formed at one end with a shoulder forengagement with the edge surface of one base flange of the rail andformed at the other end with a bend providing a resilient bearing forengagement with the bottom of the base at a locationspaced inwardly fromthe edge surface of the other base flange, means for bearing on the topsurface of the last mentioned flange, and a vertical loop connectingsaid top and bottom bearings, one leg of which loop bearing against theedge surface of the last mentioned flange; the space between said topand bottom bearings being normally less than the thickness of the baseflange engaged and the distance between thesaid leg of said loop andsaid shoulder being normally less than the Width of the rail base,whereby said loop is strained both vertically of and transversely of therail by movement of the anchor to its applied position.

In testimony whereof, I have affixed my signature to this specification.

CHARLES B. SHEPHERD.

